Indiction

3 definitions found

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Indiction \In*dic"tion\, n. [L. indictio: cf. F. indiction. See
     {Indict}, {Indite}.]
     [1913 Webster]
     1. Declaration; proclamation; public notice or appointment.
        [Obs.] "Indiction of a war." --Bacon.
        [1913 Webster]


  
              Secular princes did use to indict, or permit the
              indiction of, synods of bishops.      --Jer. Taylor.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     2. A cycle of fifteen years.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     Note: This mode of reckoning time is said to have been
           introduced by Constantine the Great, in connection with
           the payment of tribute. It was adopted at various times
           by the Greek emperors of Constantinople, the popes, and
           the parliaments of France. Through the influence of the
           popes, it was extensively used in the ecclesiastical
           chronology of the Middle Ages. The number of indictions
           was reckoned at first from 312 a. d., but since the
           twelfth century it has been reckoned from the birth of
           Christ. The papal indiction is the only one ever used
           at the present day. To find the indiction and year of
           the indiction by the first method, subtract 312 from
           the given year a. d., and divide by 15; by the second
           method, add 3 to the given year a. d., and the divide
           by 15. In either case, the quotient is the number of
           the current indiction, and the remainder the year of
           the indiction. See {Cycle of indiction}, under {Cycle}.
           [1913 Webster]

From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:

  indiction
       n : a 15-year cycle used as a chronological unit in ancient Rome
           and adopted in some medieval kingdoms

From Bouvier's Law Dictionary, Revised 6th Ed (1856) [bouvier]:

  INDICTION, computation of time. An indiction contained a space of fifteen 
  years. 
       2. It was used in dating at Rome and in England. It began at the 
  dismission of the Nicene council, A. D. 312. The first year was reckoned the 
  first of the first indiction, the second, the third, &c., till fifteen years 
  afterwards. The sixteenth year was the first year of the second indiction, 
  the thirty-first year was the first year of the third indiction, &c.